The mystery of The Red Bike of Stanford

South Africans …. well … there are no better story-tellers in the world and sometimes the truth is something different although the best stories always have some truth in them….

But now they are stuck. Everybody I ask about the background of The Red Bike stands with his/her mouth full of teeth (as far as any left in many cases…. dental care is unaffordable for the majority). Even the local historian, who wrote an awesome good documented and illustrated book about Stanford, doesn’t know. The Red Bike is ‘walled’ against the Caltex petrol station at the entrance of the village and the local tourism bureau advertises it amongst the many things to see in and around the village. Is the story too gruesome to tell? Is there something about this bike that people are ashamed of? Well one can think of numerous questions. Maybe there is a simple answer to all this such as “there was no green paint” or “they just put the bike against the wall for decoration”. Maybe the answer is not that simple. It just remains a mystery and that explains this imaginary (second picture is the original).